Who Killed Artemis Fowl?
by CosmicCthulhuComic
Summary: Murder, Mayhem, Blood, Brains and Zombies! Back by popular demand, only with more blood,guts and fear. Who killed Artemis Fowl? We don't know but we're gonna find out and we're going to do it with Zombies! Thanks Mr. Colfer. We love your stuff. And Thank you Reviewers. the rewrite would not have been possible without you!
1. Chapter 1

Hello, and welcome to the rewrite! I hope you enjoyed the oh so very rough draft, and I'm pleased to say that your Reads and Reviews have been a real treat and have not been ignored. So thank you. The first draft was not as bloody or frightening as I had hoped. So that one will be terminated, but never fear round 2 is here. With more blood, guts, fighting, heartbreak, and Zombies then you can shake a shovel at. Please Read and Review and thanks again for all the help.

Beginning

Who Killed Artemis Fowl

Fowl Manor, Ireland

Three years after being cured of Atlantis complex Artemis Fowl sits in a dark room at his desk. His pale white face illuminated by the monitor light painting his face in a death mask. He was finishing a blueprint for a wildlife reserve before going to bed. He could feel exhaustion seeping into his body, like flesh slowly absorbing a poison that works its way into your blood stream and eventually cripples your mind. The clock at the bottom right of the screen read 2:50 AM. He shut down the computer, it's glow slowly fading out to black then made his way from the room. He traveled through the empty corridors of Fowl Manor in a trance like state, half in this world and the other half in darkness. When he finally made it to his chambers he felt a very distinct draft, someone had left a window in his room open. He heard a sound like bare feet hitting the floor. He expected to see one of his brothers or both of them to pass the door casting their shadows in the low light that played under it's frame, but they never came by.

Artemis moved over to shut the window, a breeze kicked up and puppeteers the curtains like sad forlorn spirits of years past. He approached the window cautiously, if his ordeals with fairies had taught him anything it was that nothing is what it seams and caution was a necessity. He reached out to put his hand upon the top frame as if to close it and just as his fingers touched the frame something sharp, cold and painful slipped into his back. A feeling of sadness and relief came with that pain, first cold, then hot, then nothing. It was quick . A few flashes of pain, like the electric shocks that had been administered to him when he was sick, and then it was gone. He could feel his blood drenching the floor. Smell the iron and taste the metallic flavor, it was not unpleasant. His heart was slowing down now. Thum thump, thum thump, thum thump. 'Everyone was right' he thought ' this is just like going to sleep. And now nothing matters. They won't find me, not till morning. And then it really won't matter.' Thum thump. 'Well next comes the light then' but that never came. Instead Artemis rested face down in his blood, tasting the nutrient of his own flesh. Then he was gone, and his body was left by the window waiting for someone to find it. But till someone did this secret belonged to the night, and the night does not give up its secrets easily.

Eight Hours Later.

Butler was making his morning rounds of the manor. He was just coming to Artemis' room when he left that something was off, it was 10:00 am and he had not seen hair or hide of the boy. Artemis wasn't usually a late sleeper, he had too many things to accomplish for that. At the age of eight he had it so his body only needed five hours of sleep to function. The Atlantis Complex might have scrambled many things but that hadn't been one of them. Butler opened the door to Artemis' room a fraction and knocked, if he was awake he would say something if not then it wouldn't matter. He opened it all the way and scanned the room. Artemis was collapsed on the floor by the window in a puddle of blood. He ran to Artemis' body as if to revive him. It was possible that he had fainted and was laying in something that wasn't blood. No such luck, the floor was sticky and when Butler touched it his skin came away a dark red color. It was old blood, Artemis had been dead hours ago. ' No,' Cried the faithful servant 'No, this isn't possible. No human could have gotten into the Manor. Not past security, not through the doors, not through the windows three stories up. No. No. No.' And at his core he knew that a human had not murdered his beloved principle, this was the work of fairies. 'God damned fairies'

His breathing came in ragged waves, this was toppling his resolve. A mighty fortress imploding on its self.

He pressed the emergency button on his communicator sending an alarm through the house. Mr. Fowl's voice came over the communicator, "Butler, what's wrong?" asked Fowl Snr.

"It's Artemis Sir."

"Yes, is he alright? Butler, what happened?"

"He's Dead Sir."

"No," whispered Artemis senior " No..." Butler heard the sound of Angeline's screams on the other end of the line, then sobbing and running. The line went dead. Butler didn't move, if he moved this would be real and he did not want it to be real. Mr. and Mrs. Fowl burst through the door.

"Dear God in Heaven" Fowl Senior murmured, Angeline knelt down on the crimson painted floor and caressed her child and deep choked sobs came from her chest. Her perfect makeup streaked and marred by tears and now blasphemously corrupted by her sons blood. Artemis' father also knelt down by his wife and held her while she clutched her child. It was the picture of a family torn. They owed their lives and their sanity to their genius son. And now he was gone. " Butler."

" Yes Angeline?"

" Please leave us."

" Yes Mrs. Fowl."

He left, closing the door quietly. Both parents were crying now. Almost baying as if they we animals. Butler knew what he had to do. He had to make the call. The fairies deserved to know. Holly, Foley, No. 1, They needed to know. But more then anything they would be the ones to bring justice to the Fowl family, they would be the only ones capable of solving this abhorrent crime. He went into Artemis' office, took out the communicator that he had been issued since his release, and pushed the button with his masters blood still on his hands.


	2. Chapter 2

Haven LEP Centre.

Foaly was busy focusing on his monitors when a screen popped up with a tile that read Fowl Manor. He clicked it. " You've got Foaly, this Had better be good Fowl."

"This isn't Artemis, Foaly,it's Butler."

Foley's brow furrowed, Butler making a call was not normal. Before he had come into work that morning he had had a discussion about a dream she dream last night. It had been disturbing, she told him that she didn't remember much but the feel that came with it was one of terror and great loss. And she had told him to be careful. No, Butler calling did not bode well, " Ah Yes, always good to hear from you Butler. My horse senses are telling me that there is trouble above, what's your problem then."

"Foaly, are Holly and No. 1 close by?"

" Yes," Foaly was becoming very uncomfortably now. And a cancerous ball of unease was settling in is stomach region gnawing away at his resolve " Why what's wrong?" He could hear the tremor in Butlers voice and the centaur did not like it. Not one bit.

"Get them now. I'll hold."

Within 6 minutes Holly and No.1 were present with Foaly. "Alright Butler we're here," said Holly ," now what's wrong?"

"I thought that because you were all so close to Artemis that you should be the first to know."

"WERE? Butler, that's past tense." Said No.1

"Friends, as of an hour ago, I found Artemis laying on the floor, dead."

Holly went white, No. 1 sank to the floor and started to silently sob, and Foaly took a involuntarily step backwards as if someone were offering him a cup filled with acid. "No," said Holly "that can't be. Artemis Fowl just doesn't't die. Butler, this is a mistake right, some kind of Sick Human joke. Well nobody's laughing down here. Now put Artemis on the line so I can rip him down one side and up the other for scaring us like this. You hear me Mudman. But Artemis on NOW!"

"Holly,I am indeed being very serious." And she heard the truth in Butlers voice but it didn't change the fact that she didn't want to believe it. Artemis couldn't die, people ( well equipped people) had tried and failed. She was expecting Artemis to live for a very long time and when the time for him to die did come he would have haggled death for a few more year. Or he would have found away around the situation entirely. No , No . This was wrong. "I'll let you know the details of the funeral as soon as I can. I have to go. The Fowls need me."

Foaly spoke up "Alright,take it easy up there and if you ever need to talk we are here for you."

"Thanks," Said Butler "that means a lot to me" and then there was silence.

Six weeks ago outside Fowl Manor

A pale thin woman stood silhouetted in the moon light, she was looking at a single window. The one belonging to a certain Artemis Fowl. He was the one they needed, she was sure of it. He was so perfect, so right for the job. Being a slayer wasn't for everyone, you had to choose carefully or else they just died and fell over like a pile of broccoli. And broccoli was no good during hand to hand combat with the evil hellish fiends that she and her brethren hunted at night. No good at all. But Artemis was perfect for it, he was smart and clever. He had seen terrible battles and vanquished Hellish foes before and was still alive. He had the resolve to face the hoards of the underworld. Yes He was the one. She ran toward the manor, jumped, and catapulted herself at Artemis' window. She landed with all the grace of a cat. She pushed on the window frame only to find that it was looked. It would be, wouldn't it. No matter, she pressed her hands to the frame and said the ancient words given to her by her brother Marquis for entrance and safe passage.

Once she was in she made her way over to where his sleeping body lay. She took out a small silver switch blade and sliced open her palm. She pressed he bloody palm to the Irish boy's mouth and recited the poem that must be said to make him as a hunter. A hunter of Daemons and the Dead. As a drinker of blood and a faithful steward of the night. This is how she was going to make him a vampire. As her Maker had made her vampire.

She began.

Drink deep the sacred wine of ages

Sleep like the dead at Peace

Take pleasure in your sunlit days

For soon they are to cease.

Pre par for the Battle that waits

Hell fire and Grave dirt each

We fight in the dark so others

May live a life of ease

And know that when you finally die

That you may fly away

And take grate delight

In God's eternal day.

After that she removed her palm and left the room. "See you soon Artemis"


	3. Chapter 3

Artemis' Funeral At Fowl manor

Artemis' body was laid on a table in the Fowls front room. His body was covered by a white sheet. Autopsy had been run but the Fowls had insisted that the body not be embalmed. No body begrudge them the favor. Everyone was dressed in black. His brothers were there, eyes red and puffy. Artemis Senior , in a formal black suite, was standing by his wife who was in a simple black dress. Butler and Juliet were present for the somber occasion as well. Both in their customary suites, black band on their right arms.

When all the human mourners were gone Artemis' Other friends could say their farewells. Foaly was the first one to approach the body. " Goodbye Artemis, you were a lot of trouble but I'm going to miss you. You know, I think you were the only one who...well it was fun to have someone to talk to who was on the same intellectual level as myself for a change. You we're bright and showed enormous potential to make your world a better place. Well it's all over now, I will miss you mud boy."

No.1 Approached the body and laid down some flowers on the table beside it. He started to say something but he couldn't and he started to cry. Foaly consoled him "there, he whispered. He's beyond all pain now. Its alright" It didn't help No.1 just cried louder. "I...I'm Going to miss..." No. 1 stuttered but his grief wouldn't let him make coherent sentences.

Holly was the last to say her farewell. She was pale and stiff and something in the way she moved suggested that she was't all there" I'm going to miss you Artemis." And that's all she said. She wanted to say more but words were not enough to convey he loss and grief and stabbing pain at loosing her friend. It was't like when her mother or Commander Root had died this was quieter. Nastier somehow, it looked like he was asleep. She began to shake,'So help me if you're alive in there and this is all just part of another scam I will kill you myself' so she stepped back and joined the rest.

The burial site that night.

The woman was approaching the fresh grave. She had 7 bags of blood that 'had been generously donated to her cause' from the blood bank that day. Humans were so generous in this age just giving out their life force freely. She picked a spot to sit and waited. 12 Minutes later something started to happen. The grave soil began to churn and move a hand reached out from the dirt then a head, then the rest of the body. Artemis had risen. He crumpled over in the grass, coughing and vomiting grave dirt. His hands were raw from breaking out of his coffin and clawing through the soil. He kept vomiting until his body was free from all earthly and human filth. He was shaking violently and his eyes were a vivid unholy red " Finally, you're up. Here drink this." She tossed a bag to the newly made vampire. Artemis caught it with ease and sucked it down. She left the rest at his feet to finish her day her Maker had brought her a girl who liked to kill small animals and hurt her siblings, Oh how the times have changed, humans fascinated her.

" How are you feeling?" She asked the new vampire

He stared at he for awhile then said " cold, empty"

"That is to be expected. You will adjust.

"Adjust to what. What's happened...Who Are you...What Are you?"

"My name is Caroline, and I am your Maker."

" My Maker?" If Artemis had had a heart beat it would have been racing.

"Yes I am what you are now, because of me you continue to exist . We are what once was human but what is no more, Dead, undead, nosvoratu, Vampire. To make a long story short. We are the descendants of St. Patrick. But that's along story."

"Come again."

"St. Patrick, he was the first vampire." She looked at him like a college professor might look at a student who had forgotten to study for a quiz. " You're gonna make me tell the story then?" Artemis stared at her blankly, something that was not common for him when he was alive. She sighed, it was going to be a long night. " Fine,St. Pat was originally a St. But when he lead a battle against a witch who was raising an undead army, Zombies. She put a curse on him and turned him Into a vampire. That however didn't work out to her advantage. St. Pat ended up killing her and her undead army. But before she died she put a curse on his country, Ireland that whoever dies a discontented death shall rise in a never ending quest for ... well ...Brains.

He then created 6 houses of Vampires three of which are still in existence. To combat the Zombie menace. It is your duty to find and kill the undead before they kill our beloved country men."

This was all quit bewildering to Artemis, fairies weren't't a problem, daemons were except able, time travel do-able, even fighting off an unholy magical disease . All of these were normal, but vampires, St. Patrick, witches, and Zombies. That was a lot to take in, especially for someone, even a brilliant someone ,who had just clawed through six feet of fresh earth. He was still shaking it out of his hair

"Don't worry," said Caroline " you will..." She was now looking past Artemis " get down fledgling"

He almost forcefully hit the ground, Caroline pulled out a hand gun that she had been conseled in her coat. She fired one shot and Artemis heard something, or more accurately someone . Artemis got up from the ground.

"So, I am...Dead? And you...you just killed a zombie?" asked Artemis with some uncertainty.

" Yes I killed a zombie. And no, if you were dead you would be a Zombie and then I would have to tear off your head or put a bullet in it before you made off into the night to murder, mame, and eat brains. You are a vampire, a crypt watcher, a blood drinker. What part of this arnt you understanding? I thought you were smart."

" the part where I don't have a Pulse!" said the new vampire angrily " the last memories I have is of someone stabbing me then waking up in a casket? Do you have any idea how terrifying that is?"

Caroline gave him a blank look " Yes, yes I do. You might.." But Artemis interrupted her

" What the Hell, now I'm some pale supernatural ghoul, some undead revenant. Oh my God, I'm dead. Dead. Because of You! Why? Why did you do this to me? I was happy being alive. Why did you need to murder me? My God...You Murdered me!" He broke down sobbing streams of blood running down his face which only made him sob more. It was gross and nasty but he couldn't help licking it off his fingers. It was instinct. Caroline understood her wards emotions but Artemis was in danger of breaking unknown decibels with his howling so Caroline struck him on his arm. This tore the cloth and made a gash in his upper arm. The wound seeped a dark red.

"Shut up!" whispered Caroline. " do you want all of Ireland to hear you? Shut up Artemis. Shut up and pull your self together." He was quiet. In fact he couldn't't have made a sound if he had wanted to . Caroline's command was absolute and because she was his Maker he had to obey.

" I didn't't kill you Artemis. If I had killed you you would have known it. If I had killed you we wouldn't be having this I had killed you your family would have just thought that you had gone missing or run off with some girl. They were not meet to suffer as they did. Please understand that."

It hit Artemis like runaway farm equipment on ice. The shock of knowing that his Killer was still at large sobered him up and he came back to himself. " I'm sorry Caroline, I did not factor in that you might not have been my murderer. Please forgive me."

" You are forgiven, Fledgling." Said Caroline coolly.

" Do you know who did Kill me?" asked Artemis quietly .

Caroline sighed, it was a sad sigh. " no Artemis, I do not. But if I did know I assure you that they would not be alive right now. "

Artemis' eyebrows creased in an expression of puzzlement. "It mattered to you how I died? I thought it would be all the same."

"No," Caroline said with an inner ferocity, " Vampires in general become very attached to the humans we choose to turn. You didn't know it but I have been visiting you for the past six months regularly. Feeding you my blood while you slept, conditioning you for your eternal afterlife. Our bond is a parental one, you understand. And if I ever find the evil beast who did kill you I will kill them slowly and painfully."

Artemis internally shivered at the idea of this woman visiting him in the night and pouring he blood into him. "So what do we do now?" he asked

" We go home. The sun is rising and I would rather be inside my own box when it decides to make an appearance." She noticed that her new fledgling was once again giving her puzzled looks. That's what she must have looked like to her Master when she first turned. That was 200 years ago. She sighed "We sleep in coffins Artemis, are you not familiar with the literature?"

" No, that's not it . I deduced that, but where is home for us?"

Caroline's face brightened maybe he wasn't a complete moron after all. "Dublin, we have a flat in the inner city. Its very nice, your new family is waiting for you, you'll like them. They are all exceptional people, in life and in death."

"Sounds fantastic" he said, knowing fully that he was now condemned to live in the night for the rest of his days. The least he could do was look on the bright side. As they were making their way from the cemetery Artemis turned to his maker "Do you enjoy it then, the Zombie killing."

" Immensely," said his Maker, Hmm maybe there was a bright side. Artemis smiled wickedly


	4. Chapter 4

I would like to take a moment here and acknowledge Mr. H. P. Lovecraft. Yes, the Necronomicon belongs to him that was his idea and now people ever where get to use it. You may have noticed it recently in a little film called The Evil Dead. It has many forms but its still the same evil book. Look for it and other Lovecraftianisms along the way and in everything else I write. Thanks again for Reading.

Later in Dublin

Artemis and Caroline were standing outside an old dilapidated building, it was maybe half the size of Fowl Manor."This is your flat?" asked the fledgling

"Home sweet Home." Answered his Master " be it ever so humble" They walked into the warehouse, the floor was covered in dust, glass, wrappers, and bones. Some of those bones looked human, Artemis did not care. After all he wasn't human, not any more. Caroline walked to the back of the warehouse and opened a door, It was a narrow aperture with stairs going up as well as down. "Don't go downstairs." Instructed Caroline, "that's where Marquis sleeps, he likes his privacy. He's also something of a scientist and might be the creepiest person you ever meet. Just don't go down there, not unless you are unfortunate enough to have him invite you into his domain." She continued to walk upstairs. Caroline opened the door on the second floor.

It was a well furnished room with white couches and desks and ,well, well well they had computers. Really nice ones as it happened. There was also what appeared to be benches, coffee tables . No, not benches, not coffee tables, coffins. Black obsidian coffins. Caroline caught him staring "We don't really sleep in those. I was joking back at the cemetery, they're more of decoration, or decoys. However you would rather think of them."

Artemis relaxed a little,"So how many people are living...staying Here.?" Asked Artemis

" Just four including yourself." Answered his Master. " You already know me, and as I have mentioned Marquies . That just leaves his fledgling, Rori." As if one queue, A tall beautiful woman sauntered through the door and into the room. She was covered in gore and blood. She kicked off her boots and ran her fingers through her red hair. Some teeth and fell out. She looked like a super modle if super models sported badly fluid. And like the blood and body parts confidence just seemed to roll off her.

"Rori!" shouted a voice from below the stairs, "Rori, don't walk away from me. You had no right to eat that man."

"Oh." Said Caroline. "Entrails are about to hit the fan. Prepared your self, because this room is about to get very small very quickly. Just do your best and pretend to not be here. It's what I like to do. Have you ever watched As the World Turns?"

A very tall, very pale angry man emerged from the stairwell. He would have probably been pale before he died. He was a snow storm of furry "Rori, Why did you think it was necessary to eat that man?"

"Hey, " replied Rori, " He was alive when I left him doesn't that count for...anything?"

"Noooo. It doesn't you are 120 years old, I thought you would know by now. How do you suppose this is going to come across to Caroline's new fledgling? Just feed on who ever we please do whatever you want. Do you remember what happened to Sam"

Rori's eyes turned cold "Don't talk to me about Sam. I am nothing like him, he was broken before he came to us and I'm willing to bet broken before he turned"

Rori and Marquies were nose to nose, glaring each other down. It looked like they were going to kill each other, Artemis was almost sure of it. Eyes glowing hotter and hotter. You could cut the tension with a serrated blade. Then Caroline leaned over and whispered "wait for it"

And just as suddenly as it had all began, they were kissing. Long and hard and deep. Then Marquies took Rori gently by the shoulders, tilted her head to one side and bit into her neck. While simultaneously rolling up one sleeve and offering his arm to Rori which she enthusiastically bit into. Blood weep from their wounds, slowly trickling down their cold skin. Dark livid red.

Their blood was cycling, leaving her and entering him, leaving him and entering her. The action was complete, seamless, and felt as if it would go on and on till the world ended. Completion.

Caroline leaned over again. "I know what you must be thinking, but let me assure you that their relationship is completely philanthropic. Emotions for us are a little more intense, love, hate, remorse, forgiveness, etc. But be assured that he is, for lack of a better term, her father and she his daughter. Its just a little more so because their immortals. This is just a very primitive way of showing their love and the connection they share."

Artemis nodded in mock understanding, this vampire business was going to be a bumpy ride.

"They could be at this for hours," Caroline sighed, " do me a favor. Go to the bath room and wash the grave dirt off you. You'll feel better. Its down the hall at the end on the left." Artemis all but ran from the room. It was going to be a very bumpy ride indeed.

Meanwhile, at Fowl Manor

Angeline Fowl was sitting at a computer reviewing surveillance tapes. She had started with her son's murder footage and was working backwards, what she had seen disturbed her. At first she thought that it might have been the work of rouge faeries seeking revenge on her son and the LEP., however she had Butler show her the footage of "The Fowl Siege" when Artemis had first made faerie contact and had ransomed Holly for an exuberant amount of money. The very thought of her son kidnapping and holding and innocent person hostage here, in her home, right under her nose made her skin crawl. How had her 'Little Arty' done something so appallingly evil? She knew how, she had been sick. She had let herself become depressed at the lose of her husband and had become oblivious to her child withering away. Becoming something dark and monstrous, and then there was that affair with the lemur. Her son had almost killed off an entire species and she had gotten too sick to do anything. What kind of mother was she? Damn! Angeline slammed her hand down on the table and the force of the blow shook the monitor.

And now her son, after being taken away from her time after time by either her sickness or faeries, was gone forever. Damn! Damn! Damn! But being angry wouldn't bring Arty back and it wouldn't help protect her family. She had had enough trouble with protecting her family. Butler had quit and had moved into a modest home on the outer limits of Dublin. Juliet was staying with him, she occasionally came up to visit with Angeline and the twins but the visits were always short and had a melancholy air about them. Butler was depressed, maybe even suicidal. His principle was dead, murdered, while his back was turned and there was no explanation as to why. He had proposed that it had been fairies, but after viewing the tapes. There was no camera evidence, and no still framed photos of faeries stabbing her son. Nothing but a 8 second footage of a window opening itself and then later a 3 minute short film of her son going to close the window, gasping with surprise and pain and then collapsing and bleeding on the floor.

She had Foaly and a team of the best faerie forensic experts review the tapes and even review the scene of the crime but so far nothing had been found. Not so much as a partial print smug. Neither Holly or Foaly had known that Artemis had been murdered before the funeral and were shocked to know the truth. The local police we officially handling the case up here but down in Haven The Fowl Murder Manor case was priority one. Both Foaly and Holly were working as hard as they could to find Artemis' killer.

Apparently Murder isn't common down underground so the "Fowl's Foul Murder" was all over the media, it made Angeline shiver. She pushed down her revulsion and reviewed the tapes.

Other then the "most recent" tape there were a few farther back of windows opening and closing by themselves, of Arty staring out of a window and what looked like having conversations with someone while sleepwalking, and doors and closets opening by themselves. Angelines blood ran cold. At first she thought that it might have been the work of that wicked pixie Opal Koboi but when integrated she screamed and cried and became incredibly violent, swearing vengeance against the one responsible of robbing her of the pleasure of offing Artemis herself. After that no one thought it was Opal any more. How could it have been anyway. She was in an ultra secure containment cell in Atlantis when Artemis had been murdered, still no one was underestimating the pixie. She was still classified as a suspect.

Angeline leaned back in her chair away from the screen and tilted her face away from its eldritch light. Everything was wrong, her life was suppose to be happy now. Her husband was back with her, Artemis was better again, her youngest were just happy normal boys. But this, this was wrong. She tried not to cry but the tears leaked out anyway. This was some kind of nightmare ,except for her there was no waking up.

Back at in Dublin

Artemis had washed off all of the grave dirt that had been clinging to his skin since he had risen that night. The water had gone from black, to brown, to clear. 'Mudmen' he thought 'More like graveman now or what about bloodman. Yes that sounded right' he laughed a little. The bathroom was very clean, almost antiseptic. It almost reminded him of the clinic he stayed in during his "episode" except there were no pills to cloud his mind and the smell of singed flesh was not perforating the air. Looking for a towel, he opened a couple of closets, he found three gallons of bleach a waste basket filled with plastic bio contamination bags and dark red towels . Maybe to hide the blood that no amount of bleach could wash out.

Artemis dried off and then noticed something peculiar. This bathroom had no mirrors. He quickly look down a the tile floor and saw himself looking up in his reflection. He smiled, 'it's a joke' he thought 'just like the coffins in the front room' his smile widened 'maybe they keep pet bats as well'

There were a pair of pants by the door, a pair of his pants, the jeans that his mother had made him promise to ware at least at some point. Caroline must have snatched them from his closet awhile ago. He hadn't noticed, or cared for that matter, that they were missing. Well, they were here now, and it only seemed practical, he put them on. It then occurred to him that Caroline was either a very devoted Maker to go to all the effort of stealing his clothes for him or she was a complete creep who went through other peoples closets while they slept. 'Maybe she's a bit of both' and didn't know whether to be worried or consoled by this fact.

He stepped out of the bathroom and walked down the hall to the front room. Caroline and Rori were over by the coffins playing Chinese checkers and Marquis was on a couch reading what appeared to be a very old book, the spine of the cover read Necronomicon . He glanced up from his book and gestured to Artemis that he come over to him, he set the book down. "So, Artemis," he said in a voice as smooth as glass, " Cara, told us that she had to speed up your arrival date due to unforeseen circumstances."

"He was murdered" shouted Rori as she took one of Carolines pieces.

Marquis sighed and glared ice in Rori's direction "Yes, If you want to put it so bluntly. We are sorry to hear about that. I'm sure that Cara has already told you, but we never intended for your transition to go so..."

"Bloody wrong!" interjected Rori

" Yes, thank you, Rori. Now I'm sure you are tired, I know I am. Time to go beneath. See you in the evening. Good morning Cara, Rori." And he left

" I should get going too" said Rori "busy night tomorrow probably what with the gang violence on the up right 's will be your first night in the field, you're going to love it. Just don't let them get close to your head." And she winked at him " Thanks for the game Care." She turned to Artemis " See you in the evening then, we'll get to know each otherbetter during battle." She walked down the hall that Artemis had come up and went through one of the doors.

"It's just you and me then"said Caroline with a sigh

" Yes it is." Agreed the fledgling

"Artemis, when you rise tomorrow you will be hungry and a couple of blood bags won't be able to curb that hunger. When a fledgling rises for the first time their body is spending so much time adjusting that it doesn't really resister that it is hungry. Blood lust will be all over you, you won't be able to control yourself. You will become a danger to everyone especially yourself. Do you understand?" She was being ernest and there was real concern on her face.

" Not really, what are you" Artemis was worried

"In order to stop you from raving and going on a killing spree when the sun goes down tomorrow I will have to drain you and feed you tonight. It will hurt but then you will understand the hunger that drives you better. It's part of that curse I told you about earlier." She looked sad, like she was telling him a beloved pet had been hit be a car that afternoon. Something turned in his soul, he didn't want her to look that sad. He took an involuntary step toward her. " It's alright child," she whispered and she gathered him into her arms "Just try not to think about it."

Then she ripped into his neck. The pain was hot , red, and intense. Blinding white flashes of pain but it was a good pain. Not like being stabbed or electrocuted. More like penicillin being injected to fight off a disease or maybe when monks walk over burning embers. It was a good pain. Then he felt something wet near his lips. It was Carolines blood forcing its way into his mouth. He was cautious at first but it tasted so good, so familiar he sucked it down in gulps. It was dark and rich and black. It warred with the white hot pain until there was no telling the two apart. White black. Black white. This was completion.

She pulled way and he couldn't stand but she held firm, she was so strong "Come on. The sun is coming up" and she carried him to a closet where a large old trunk sat like an alter. She popped the lid to reveal a well padded interior. She placed him in first, then she carefully laid in beside him "we'll have to get you one of these tomorrow but on your first night you shouldn't be alone, and Artemis,"

"Hmm" he said in his blood haze

" I truly am sorry."

"It's alright. Everything is right"

"So it is," and she closed the lid before the sun peek over the horizon.


	5. Chapter 5

The Next Evening,

Artemis awoke with a ravenous thirst in the trunk next to his Master. Sensing his awareness she said without opening her eyes "Artemis, do not move from where you lay. Do not scream or breath, be motionless and completely without life until I return. This is my command" which of course he had to obey. She opened the lid of the makeshift coffin ,got out, and closed the lid. Artemis was alone in the box, he could sense everything so much more clearly now. Any residual humanity he might have harbored was gone now, completely gone and he was alone in the dark with his hunger. It ravaged him, a serpentine creature twisting its tentacles and barbs into his core, his heart, his brain, maybe his soul. Did he still have a soul? He must have, because nothing else had ever felt this anguishing before. This was the curse, this was the horror that Caroline had warned him about. It was a want, an urgent need. And nothing else mattered, he knew he would do anything to stop the sensation and that he would enjoy doing it. This realization terrified him.

Not five minutes had passed and he heard Caroline put her hands on the lid of the trunk. " Artemis," she said "We have procured a vessel for you, rise and learn to drink." He flung open the lid and sprang out of the box with ease. Caroline put a cold strong hand on his shoulder and used it to guide him to the stairs. They passed Rori on the way, she was sitting on the sofa reading the news paper. It was open to the obituary column. They went down the stairs to the first floor where Marquis stood with an unfamiliar but clearly terrified young man. "Ah, excellent, you're up and about. Caroline do you think this one will suffice for your fledgling?"

" Yes, thank you Marquis for getting him."

"Not a problem," Marquis turned to the man and did something with his eyes that made the man relax. He said to the man in a purring voice " Now, you filthy waste of flesh, can you please introduce yourself to my friends here."

"I'm..." the mans face contorted into a look of puzzlement "I'm Reagan"

"Very good Reagan" Said Marquis in almost mock praise " and can you tell them where I found you and what you were doing."

"That's non of your bloody..." Marquis' grip tightened and Reagan flinched " I was...getting it on with a whore..." Marquis tightened his grip some more, " a girl... behind this bar."

" And was the lady willing?"

Shame washed over Reagan's face "No" he whispered.

" As I recall she was screaming was that right?"Marquis was being sardonic now, he was enjoying breaking this pathetic worm that was pretending to be a man

"Yes"

"And you had a knife to her as well, was that right?"

"...yes"

"And what did you say to her before I caught you with her trousers almost to the ground"

Reagan didn't say anything, Marquis kicked him and he screamed. There was a vial sound of bone breaking and sweat began to break out over the mans face. Marquis slowly asked again " What. Did. You. Say?"

"Keep screaming and I'll cut your face off"

Marquis looked disgusted, "and..."

"and then she stopped. That's it nothing else happened, you got me before..."

"before you could hurt her?" the vampire asked with a grin that was equal parts hate and pleasure "but you had already hurt her. Do you think she will forget this night? Do you think she will feel safe again out on the street knowing that people like you are out there ready to do your worst. No my friend, you hurt her. There's no going back." For this next part he turned to Artemis " You might think that we're monsters boy and you might be right, but we are monsters with a purpose. We protect the night, we keep it safe from rabid beasts like this monster here." He kicked Reagan again and the monster in question groaned and doubled over. " Keep the night safe Artemis, drink."

It was over in seconds, Artemis attacked full force. Ripping into Reagan's neck, tearing through flesh to get to the rich liquid that was this animals life force. It was beautiful. Red swirling, he could feel the terror of Reagan, feel his pain. Artemis pressed his nails into Reagans flesh puncturing the skin, heightening Reagans fear. Artemis was feeding on blood and fear, it was a perfect combination.

"Please," Reagan Whispered, "Stop, I can't feel..." Artemis put a hand over Reagans mouth to silence him and he didn't stop. It was too good to stop and he wanted all that this pathetic person had to offer. He wanted the blood, the fear, now there was anguish and maybe a hint of remorse. Artemis didn't care. He had drained him about 2/3 of the way before Marquis grabbed Artemis by his neck, forcing him to stop, and Caroline pulling Reagan's withering away and out the front doors. Artemis heard a car start, and speed away.

Artemis was breathing deeply now. New blood zipping around his veins. Rich, sweet, and so full of energy now coursing through him giving him life. Marquis began to speak "The boy will be fine, scared out of his mind, probably won't sleep for weeks, but he will be fine. We don't kill, Artemis. And we only feed on wicked people or people who offer their blood freely. Do you understand? The line between what we are and what we hunt is razor thin. We can't afford to be selfish or self serving" Artemis nodded.

" Some of us have crossed that line and we have paid for it dearly. You are still very young, learn what you can now and maybe you will never have to become a real monster."

"So Reagan, he tried to rape or murder some poor girl and I."

"You gave him a second chance at life. He won't be hunting anyone anytime soon and I very likely doubt he will ever prowl around city bars looking for victims ever again. He has received a wake up call. Be somebody else, and now he can be. If he isn't we can always find him again."

"Does it always have to be a human? Last night Caroline gave me blood bags"

" Well yes, mostly we get our supply from the blood bank , but this was your first night and the first night is always the hardest. Best to find an evil human. But enough about this. How about we go hunting? Caroline should be dropping your meal off at the ER about now. You ever kill a zombie before?"

"No, never."

"No? Not even in video games, I hear that all the young gentlemen play those things almost religiously now."

"Not me, they could never hold my attention"

"Oh well, we will just have to start from scratch" And Marquis and Artemis walked off into the night.

At the cemetery

Rori had left the flat right after artemis had risen and was waiting up on a hill. The weird gibbous moon giving off an eldritch light painting the graveyard in alien shadows, a Stygian mist swirling around the headstones. Artemis and Marquis showed up around the same time Caroline did. Artemis was looking well and was now sporting a Grateful Dead t-shirt. It had belonged to Marquis who had been and still was their number one fan. "Well lets do this," said Rori " I've already spotted some activity at six different locations. Who wants what?"

"I call shotgun" said Caroline "and the cricket bat."

From Marquis," Axe and the semi automatic, please"

"And what about you Artemis?"

Artemis look at the weapons left, non of which looked appealing except..."the shovel"

"Really, the shovel?" asked Rori "but that's for filling in the graves"

"I have a good feeling about the shovel"

"Alright"

Rori took a machete and what looked like a small scythe "lets go to work"

It didn't take long, first one zombie crawled out of its grave. Caroline took off its head with the cricket bat easily enough. Blood painted the ground and her shoes crimson. Then a couple more, Marquis got those. Popping bullets through their heads, brains exploding like fireworks. Then things started to heat up. Zombies were popping up everywhere. Artemis knocked one down with the spade and then decapitated it using its pointed end. Blood sprayed up in a mist wetting the blade of the shovel. The zombies head rolled rolled rolled until it hit a nearby tree. Its mouth hanging open and tongue lolling out, the body flopped around for a bit but eventually found peace. 'Oh heck yes, this is fun.' Thought Artemis.

One was crawling through the wet grass, bones jutting out from its legs and side. Giving out a low moan. Artemis decapitated him too. The shovel went through the zombies open mouth and tinkling teeth were scattered everywhere. A hand grabbed Artemis' leg, he used the shovel like a quarter staff and used the other end to grind the wrist bones into the earth. More shots rang out from Caroline's and Marquis' guns and soon the smell of gun smoke and decay filled the air. In his peripheral vision Artemis saw Rori slice through the torso of an undead with the machete and then dividing it from its head with the scythe. Her red hair made redder by the blood. The night went on and on like that. Zombie, Decapitation, Zombie, bullet to the head, Zombie, whack with the cricket bat, Zombie, the severing with the shovel. On and on. It was wonderful, it was so free. Up here in the cemetery Artemis knew that this was what he was meant to do, it was his calling and these fascinating creatures he was protecting the planet with, or at least Ireland, were his kinsmen, his family. By coming to this cemetery Artemis Fowl had come home.

Splat, he severed another neck and watched the head make its journey down the hill 'let the good times roll' he thought and then continued on with his mission.


	6. Chapter 6

LEP headquarters, Foaly's Office.

Foaly had been reviewing the tapes from Fowl manor for at least three weeks with very little to no success as to discerning who or what had killed Artemis. There had to be a logical reason as to why the windows and doors opened and closed themselves. They were not just random happenings and spooky goings on as some of his more amateurish coworkers would have him believe. A rather naive and insensitive intern had suggested that maybe Fowl manor was haunted by the ghosts of mudmen past and were now seeking revenge on the current inhabitants. He was promptly dismissed and was told he would not receive his credits required for his college courses this round. It wasn't really a good time to have an intern anyway, what with the sensitivity of the case and the LEPs personal involvement in Artemis' life. It was a toll on everyone. Especially Foaly and Holly.

Foaly ran the "End Tape" again looking for things that he might have missed. Enhancing the pictures, running filters. Crossing Kaboi technology for ways that this might have been possible and re-crossing old forgotten faerie magic for even more possibilities. He had even gone as far as to put 3 daemon warlocks on his team including No. 1 just to make sure that they did in fact have all the faerie magic covered even thought he was certain that no daemon would have a vendetta against Artemis.

'Well maybe it does't have anything to do with fairies at all' he said to himself 'maybe this is a human on human crime'. But the problem was that had it been a human his tech would have picked up something by now. Foaly counted with his left for-hoof in frustration. 'Think, if it isn't us and it can't be the humans then what was left?' that thought made him shiver, he really didn't like where his thoughts were going, he kept on counting

' Something that doesn't give off heat, it doesn't leave impressions or prints, and what, what, what.' He zoomed in on a frame. This one where Artemis was on the floor laying in his blood. He zoomed in on the window. Why was that important. 'because in all the other tapes the window had shut itself, but this one stayed open. That was an inconsistency, thus relevant. He zoomed in some more. He found that a tiny blood droplet was floating in mid-air, it had gone unnoticed all this time because of the dark background but here it was now. Shinning like a beacon in the night.

This meant that they had a few more answered questions, but ironicly just more questions with no answers. One, the killer gave off no heat. Two, the killer is light, agile and doesn't like to waste a lot of time at the scene. And three, the killer has a substantial form, making them very, very real. This was getting creepy.

Foaly focused on the droplet. ' I don't know who you are or where you are, jerk-wad, but we are coming for you' Foaly took a screen shot and saved ' I don't care what you are, we are coming.'

Six months later, cemetery outside of Dublin

Artemis was having a fine time of killing zombies in the darkness of a new moon. He had taken two of the smaller firearms that they owned. Marquis had taught him how to shoot. They had used the heads of zombies they had decapitated and lined them up on grave stones. The first few times had been shaky at best but by the end of the week he had become a pro. Butler would have been proud, to bad he would never be able to see him again. He had his killer to thank for that and he felt a wave of anger pass over him. 'Evil blighter, when I find you... I'm going to enjoy myself. That is if my new family doesn't find you first' The anger subsided.

There hadn't been that many deaths this week and Caroline figured that he was skilled enough now to go out on his own. He also had , as Marquis had said ' unprecedented self control' and felt that he didn't have to be monitored. Rori had thrown a fit at that, mostly out of jealousy because Marquis was always on her about her self control. She hadn't talked to him for two nights straight last week because of that and had once hit him in the chest with a cricket bat. " Sorry," she said "thought you were a zombie"

She had only forgiven him after he had taken a pair of emerald earrings off a severed head and made of present of them asking for her forgiveness and promise that she wouldn't hit him again. She had forgiven him and taken the earrings. She knew that he had most likely gotten them from an unholy undead affront to the living but he didn't think she would care, and she didn't ask.

The Dublin Clan didn't have a lot of money. They went through empty graves and picked over dead bodies for things they could pawn or sell on eBay or Amazon, the rest they made from internet companies and by 'playing the stocks' but it didn't really matter. They had everything they needed or wanted. Artemis even had a box of his own to sleep in. It was an old full vertical piano that they had managed to get up the stairs without to much work. Artemis and Caroline had refurbished it so that not only could he sleep in it but he could play it as well. The only downside was when Rori knew he was inside and then proceeded to pound on the keys. They kept it in the front room.

Artemis looked at his wrist watch that he had taken from another corpse. The time read 11:15 pm, where was Rori? She was going to meet him here so they could catch at midnight viewing of some old horror movie they had remade. There was a sharp whistle, when he looked up Rori was down by the gates. He ran down and shoved the two small guns into the inner pocket of the leather jacket he was wearing.

"Hey," she said, "you know they close these things at sunset right?"

"No, who would have guessed."

She gave him a wicked smile and faked as if she were going to punch him. He stepped back and used his arms like he was going to block. "just keeping you sharp Artemis."

"If by sharp you mean beating me black and blue, yea."

" Oh whatever, crazy git. Now come on. Lets go catch the flick" She turned around and stepped out into the street right in front of an on coming car which mowed her down. The person didn't get out of the car, they were obviously stunned that she had just walked out in front of them like that.

Artemis rushed over to her but she just popped up and slammed her fist on their hood, leaving an indent. " Watch where you're going gobshite" and walked off like nothing had happened. Vampires were incredibly strong ,resilient and fast. Caroline could jump up to second story heights and Marquis could scale walls with just his finger nails and toenails like a lizard. Rori was obviously auto resistant. Artemis was coming into his own by small degrees, he could kill zombies and he was proud of that.

Artemis followed Rori across the street but he wanted to get a good look at the person Rori had just verbally assaulted. He got a look at their face through the windshield. Recognition hit like an air conditioning unit falling from a forth floor apartment. The man inside the car was non other then his old friend, Butler.

Across the street from the cemetery

Artemis was under considerable distress knowing that Butler had recognized him. And as far as Butler was concerned, he was dead. "Rori, Rori. We have to go. Right now." He looked over his shoulder, the car was still there.

" Why? Because I got run over? Your concern for me is sweet, but I'm fine. Truth be told, it happens all the time. It's funny, I've never really been able to acclimate to automobiles."

"That's not it, Rori. The man in the car recognized me. He's an old friend and was with me all through my life and knowing him... he won't let this go."

Rori shook her head and accelerated her pace. Bypassing the theater and then taking a side alley to another street."What's his name?"

"Sorry that's classified. But I always called him Butler."

Now she look confused " is that a sir name or a title?"

"Both"

"Caroline and Marquis are not going to be happy about this."

"We better hurry back then, and Rori."

"What?" She was irritated.

" I think he's following us"

"Well, shite on a stick." She gave a deep sigh. " We could try to lose him?"

"No, not without displaying some very creepy vampiric weirdness. He's really good, like samurai good."

" Double shite on a stick, looks like my hit and run is coming home with us then."


	7. Chapter 7

Dublin Flat, upstairs

"WHAT HAPPENED!" Caroline roared

"Artemis ran into an old friend on the way back from the cemetery" Rori explained

" No," explained Artemis " He ran into You... with his car." Rori glared daggers at Artemis.

Marquis stepped in " Don't argue, it solves nothing. Artemis, you said that he followed you, do you think he might be close to us or even here with us?"

" I think that's exactly where he is. Probably out side the building."

Caroline went over to a window and looked out " Larger man, big shoulders, wearing dark clothes and a jacket with the hood up? Would you say that describes him"

"Damn it," exclaimed Marquis, "Well Caroline what do you want to do, Artemis is you fledgling after all."

" Do you still have the locked box?"

" Yes but..."

"Put him in it"

"I don't think Butler is going to fit an any locked box." Said Artemis "Even if he did would he be able to breath?"

" Not Butler, silly child. I was talking about you. We can't have him getting to you. Now come on" And Caroline dragged Artemis toward the stairs.

"Do you want me to deal with the intruder?" Asked Marquis.

" If its not too much trouble." Said Caroline sardonically.

" Don't hurt him Marquis," pled Artemis "he was my friend. Just don't hurt him."

Marquis sighed , there was sadness and perhaps sympathy in his eyes, and Artemis and Caroline disappeared into the darkness below.

Outside the Building

Butler watched Artemis and an unknown girl enter a dilapidated building. It was dirty,covered in graffiti and looked like it had been shut down in the late seventies. He waited. Rain began to fall, and he put his hood up. He got out the communicator that was connected directly to Holly and sent the following message. Saw Artemis tonight- Followed him to a building in Dublin might have been a factory- he put in his long and lat coordinates. A shadow passed by an upper window. Maybe more then two people were in there.

Butler weighed his odds and decided that the best route was an immediate confrontation. He was armed and confident that he would be able to get Artemis back. He approached the door and was about to enter when a voice from behind said " I wouldn't go in there Joe."

Butler spun around and was confronted by a tall, lanky, man with a wide brimmed hat smoking a cigarette. How had he not felt or smelled this man approach, maybe the shock of seeing Artemis again or his age finally catching up with him.

"Yous goes in there," Said the man "and yous aint coming out" he flicked some ash on the ground. " not alive any ways" He had a very thick accent that sounded distinctly cockney.

"Oh" said Butler "and why would that be"

"It's full of vampires" said the man, he was sneering now " or did you not see the two vampires go in. No, you wouldn't 'ave left alive. Not that it makes much difference now." He sighed and flicked some ash onto the pavement, " Not that I'm here, nope."

This was a lot for Butler to process, did this shadow of a man just threaten him and what...Artemis was a the man was crazy, vampires did't exist ' and neither do faeries' said a voice in the back of his mind. He was assessing this man now, either he was insane and thus dangerous or he was a malicious fiend which would be equally dangerous. Either way he didn't like his options. Butler had his sig sauer on him and its silencer .He very covertly prepared the weapon. The man took something transparent out of his jacket and threw it at Butlers chest. Butler dodged and fired two rounds into the mans shoulder.

Blood blossomed on the mans jacket, "Bo'ver," he said " Now I 'ave to get a new coat. Stupid blighter."

He threw something else Butler couldn't see and this one found its mark in Butlers left hand. When he looked at his hand he could make out the shape of it. It was nothing like he had ever seen faerie or human. It looked like a miniature whaling hook with a string attached, the string lead back to the man... No... Butler fired six more rounds, this time into the man's head. His face was bleeding and mangled but it somehow reworked itself back together. The man raised his hand attached to the string and Butlers entire left side feel under his sway and was pulled to the ground.

The man threw another one of his hooks and this one went into Butlers right leg and he was pulled farther to the ground. Butler wasn't going to give up, he fired a few more rounds at the mans hands . One of the bullets grazed his hands and a small trickle of blood flowed out, the man just smiled and pulled harder on the hooks. Butler writhed in pain and involuntarily let go of the sig sauer.

Butler tried to rise from the ground but to no avail, the man twisted his hand and butler was at his mercy again. The man released a few more hooks. These went into his right hand and crest. The one in the chest went through his heart. The man pulled harder on the strings. " Well, dis as been fun. But Iv' got to go. Places to be, people to murder. But dis was a lot of fun right? Better den being sucked dry by a bunch of bloody vampires right." He was laughing at that.

He let Butler lay there in the rain and picked up Butlers gun. He pointed the gun at Butlers head and fired splaying bits of brain and skull over the pavement "You only Die Once. YODO." Said the man, and he walked off into the night.

The Building , downstairs, inside the locked box

Artemis lay in complete stillness inside the locked box, he had been given the command to not move until sunset of the next night. This wasn't a punishment, just a necessary precaution. Within Caroline's and Marquis' time having people who thought you were dead see you was never good and almost always resulted in the human, however 'righteous' in their actions they may be, killing the new vampire.

"It's not your fault" Caroline had told him as they had made their decent into the black aperture that was Marquis' domain "This is just the best course of action right now" The locked box was actually a metal box embedded in the floor concluded by a rug. "I wasn't sure if Marquis still had this available since he sometimes uses it as storage" storage for what she didn't say.

Caroline had opened the box and had him get in giving him the command and assuring him she would be back to unlock the box upon sunset. The box was cold and cramped but it would suffice. Artemis tried to imagine Butler coming for him with the intention of destroying him and failed. 'No matter what happens to me, Butler would never harm me' but could he really be sure of that. If Butler saw him as a threat, as a monster, perceived that his master was no more and that what was now animating his masters body was an evil vial thing. 'well maybe he would'

What if Holly found him like this, what would she do 'fry your arse and ask questions later, that's what she would do. Send your body back to LEP head quarters so Foaly could run tests on your remains'. It was a revolting thought, this is why it was so important that he not make contact with his past.

"Either they will kill you , go mad and try to kill you, or just go mad. It's never a pretty picture" Caroline had told him.

He had been in the box for a few minutes now, he was in for a long wait. He closed his eyes.

Outside the Building,

Marquis had smelled the blood before he had seen the body, could this night have gotten any worse. He went over to what had once been Artemis' closest friend and turned the corpse over. The wounds were of a mixed variety, the killing attack had been made by a gun shot to the head but there were also others. They were peculiar but not unfamiliar. The jagged marks on the on the hands and the blood tainted black by prolonged exposure to the expected weapons confirmed it. This was the work of a necromancer, probably the same individual who had tried to murder Artemis. 'It was a good thing he was in the box then.'

Marquis dragged Butlers body inside and cleared a space among the debris. He then found some gasoline and a box of matches. He soaked Butlers body in the flammable liquid, lit a match and threw it on top of the body. "Sorry friend, Artemis can't have you reanimating on him. It would be too much and I won't kill you. You don't deserve to die again"

Within a couple hours the body was just a smoking pile of ash. Marquis stomped out the small embers and placed the remaining ashes into an abandoned card board box. He took the macabre package upstairs and placed it on the floor next the the piano.

"What's that" Asked Rori

Marquis sighed "It was Artemis' friend."

" You killed him? But why, He didn't look..."

"I didn't kill him."

"You didn't kill who?" Asked Caroline who was coming down the hall from places unknown.

" That Butler man," Said Rori, " he's dead. Someone killed him and now he fits into a cardboard box."

"Yes" said Marquis. "It would appear we have a murderous necromancer on our hands."


	8. Chapter 8

This is the end of the rewrite, there will only be new material from this point on. Thank you for being patient . Anyway, it would appear that things are going to get messy.

Fowl Manor

Artemis Senior was sitting in the study when he heard the knock at the door around 1 am that night. It was strange, there should have been a buzzing at the gate first. He waited, and the knocking persisted. He grabbed the gun from the side table and went to answer the door. It was odd, he felt a sense of emptiness in the manor. As if all other life had evacuated the premises, as if they were animal abandoning Pompeii before Mount Vesuvius blew to avoid disaster. Through the peephole he could see a figure in a long black coat with its back to the door. It looked like it was smoking something, maybe a cigarette. "You gonna open the door sir or are things gonna 'ave to get messy?" said the person from the other side. Artemis didn't respond. "Look," Said the man "I know you're there, so why don't you just open the door and we can 'ave a good talk so Is can explain why I 'ave to kill you."

Artemis backed away from the door quietly and made his way up the stairs. At the top he saw his wife coming down the hallway. "Angeline," he said in measured tones " Get the kids and lock yourself in the safe room." The door crashed open and scattered debris over the floor. He watched his wife run down the hall and disappear into a room. ' Stay safe, Survive my love'

"Alright," said the dark figure and he stepped into the foyer, "looks like things are gonna get messy then." He spotted Artemis Senior on the staircase and flung an object up at him. It struck him in his artificial leg. Artemis fired two shots into the mans chest with the gun. The man staggered back a little but kept on in his pursuits. Blood was dripping from the wounds. Artemis ran down the other hallway in hopes to draw attention away from his family.

" Now, that aint gonna do you much good sir. Not after I's caught you and laid you outs so as They can come. No good at all." Artemis kept running. "'Ave it your way then Sir." Said the man and Artemis felt a sharp pain in his upper back on his shoulder, then another in the back of his left thigh. He fell to the ground but kept crawling. Then something awful happened he felt himself being pulled back to the man.

He could hear foot steps behind him, and he could see his blood in streaks in front of him. Artemis spun around with a great amount of effort and unloaded the gun on the intruder. Now the gun was empty and the intruder was upon him. "Didn't i say things was gonna get messy,and just look at the state of the place...tsk tsk... and just look at the state of me . I liked this shirt. Between you and the big one earlier I'm gonna 'ave to get an ole new wardrobe" The man was smiling an evil smile.

"What do you want" choked out Artemis Senior.

" Me sir, wells I wants to finish me job I do. I tried to start it with your son but some bloody Vampires made a right mess of that for me. Taking him, blooding him, they're right gits to take the young. It always works best when their young. And he had just the right look of it. Can't use em when their too young, not enough blood."

" You...killed my SON!" Howled Fowl Senior and he was suddenly renewed with adrenalin rich strength. He was on his feet ripped out one of the things this beast had used to stick him with and ran at him. Artemis stabbed the man in the neck and they was a look of pleasant surprise on the intruders face. Blood trickled out slowly and the man was...he Was laughing.

The deranged man raised one hand and Artemis Senior fell back to the ground. " Oh you are too funny Sir, so much fun. But to answer your question I think your son was mostly dead to begin with, those bloody vampires. They just make a mess of everything for every one, not safe to be evil with dem about. But don't worrie sir, you should do fine 'or what needs to be done. Lots of blood and you are full Fowl, and if ya don't I can always move on to the twins. Between the two of 'em they might suffice. But why risk it when you're already here." Then he took the heel of his boot and crashed it into Artemis Seniors head, causing him to loose conciseness. However unbeknownst to the intruder the LEP we watching and they saw everything.

Dublin Clan

Caroline went down to the basement to let her ward out of the box. It wasn't going to be easy, but she would try. She was afraid, afraid of the raw emotions she knew he would feel. Vampiric emotions were not the same as human emotions. Everything was heightened. She remembered when her maker had died 80 years ago at the hands of some crazed human who thought it would be beneficial if he burned her Maker. She had felt his passing, seen through his eyes in his last moments, and tasted her Makers sorrow.

She had been angry, and blind with rage. In an almost surreal state she had killed the man, dragging him down into a nearby river and watching him drown. It had been satisfying but it hadn't been justice and she had walked many nights caring the weight of that shame, of giving into passion and fulfilling her own desires. Marquis was the only one who knew about it and so far he hadn't ratted her out to the higher order. Not that Marquis was any Saint either, he had done many great and terrible thing when he was newly made and even before then, but the higher order had its reasons for keeping him around.

Caroline opened the box and look upon her fledgling as if he were dead, but his eyes opened and he rose. "Done already?" he asked "How did it go?"

"Artemis," Caroline said evenly "your friend meet with an unfortunate accident before we found him. I'm sorry, but he is no more."

Artemis just stared at Caroline for a moment as if something inside of him had broke. His eyes were dilating. 'System shut down and reboot' Then he seemed to snap into focus. His lips came up in a snarl, his eyes took on a maddened glow. " Where is Marquis?"

"Artemis, it's not his fault" but nothing could stop the fledgling he pushed his maker aside and was up the stairs. Caroline chased after him, the scene at the top of the stairs was terrible to behold. Artemis had Marquis by the neck, off the ground, pinned to a wall., Artemis' eyes glowing the low glow of rage. "Why!" demanded Artemis "Why did you have to kill him?!"

Marquis gave him a sad mournful look. A look of knowing and sympathy, "Child, I did not kill your friend."

"Lies!"

"Artemis, its true" said Caroline from the stairs " Marquis wouldn't have to had killed Butler to have made him leave you alone. The situation was out of our control and has become critical. "

"What do you mean critical?" asked Artemis in a voice that sounded as if he were many people, a trait that only very old vampires possessed and he and Marquis levitated slightly into the air. "explain!"

"Artemis," said Marquis and he looked so sad he would have been mistaken for a human " We believe that the monster who killed Butler is the same monster who killed you. I so sorry." Marquis put his hands on the younger vampires shoulders and they sank to the floor.

"Please," Artemis said in a broken voice that only belonged to him " please tell me you're lying" Marquis shook his head

"No, and I wish I was."

Artemis released Marquis and sank to his knees, defeated. Marquis wasted no time in picking him up. Caroline and Rori joined him. Artemis sobbed, tears of blood rushing down his face. "It will be alright," whispered Rori " he's beyond all pain now"

"It might have been better this way Artemis, now he has been spared the indignity of growing old and dying slowly. This way was fast and he died as a warrior and looking for you."

Artemis sobs slowed, and his face was covered in blood. "where is the body?"

"I burned it, I gave him a kings burial" said Marquis "that way there was no chance of him coming back to suffer the short life of a zombie. His ashes are in that box."

Artemis went over to the box and touched the ashes, they were still warm. He turned around and looked at his family. Sorrow and understanding was within them all. They had all ,at some time, lost someone they had cared for very much. He look up to the high windows in the building where the moonlight was bleeding through the dust in soft silvers. He expected to see clouds, maybe birds but what he saw instead was captain Holly Short hovering by the panes , and she was terrified.


	9. Chapter 9

Heaven, LEP Headquarters

Foaly, along with the rest of the LEP personnel team were now watching the attack on Fowl Manor. It was horrifying, the door had exploded in. It was an astonishing site. LEP had units being dispatched to rescue the family and Holly was already on the surface but no one had contacted her yet. Knowing her she would dive into the chaos headfirst, which was hazardous on the best of days. No, they would wait till their units were on the premises.

On screen,Fowl Senior was running down the hallway, Angeline had made it to a safe room with the twins, not that it mattered since the intruder's main focus was on Mr. Fowl. The intruder had been shot by Mr. Fowl and was not even fazed he just kept pursuing his quarry. He threw things that couldn't be seen by Foaly's cameras at Mr. Fowl which caused him to fall and writhe on the floor. Then the intruder raised his hand and Mr. Fowls body was dragged backward by some invisible force. Blood smeared the floor in long dark streaks. Then the intruder said something.

" Me sir, wells I wants to finish me job I do. I tried to start it with your son but some bloody Vampires made a right mess of that for me. Taking him, blooding him, they're right gits to take the young. It always works best when their young. And he had just the right look of it. Can't use em when their too young, not enough blood."

The man had confessed to killing Artemis which enraged his father " You...killed My SON!" Howled Fowl Senior. He pulled out whatever he had been stuck with, ran at the intruder and stabbed the other man in the neck. The man only laughed, a sick deranged laugh. 'This human is insane' thought Foaly 'completely insane' then the man said " Oh you are too funny Sir, so much fun. But to answer your question I think your son was mostly dead to begin with, those bloody vampires. They just make a mess of everything for every one, not safe to be evil with dem about."

Then he struck Mr. Fowl in the head and proceeded to drag him down the stairs and to the door without touching him. 'Madness' thought Foaly 'Madness'

Trouble Kelp came up behind the centaur " Foaly, what is this human?" Trouble sound as disgusted as Foaly felt

"I have no Idea sir. My guess is a good as yours"

Trouble shook his head " He looks like, and pardon me for saying this, some kind of wizard. But Mudmen don't have magic."

" Right sir, it doesn't make sense to me either."

"Have you gotten a hold of Captain Short yet."

"Not yet," replied the centaur "I was waiting for our units to reach Fowl Manor"

" Well do so now"

" Yes sir."

Foaly tapped on his keyboard and brought up the communicator system.

"Captain Short. " he said into the mouth piece " come in Captain Short." No response. He tried again "Captain Short, are you there, come in Captain Short. There has been an incident." Still no response. Foaly was getting worried " Holly, are you there?" this time static and murmured background noise "Holly are you..."

A silk smooth voice interrupted him " Hello Foaly, It's been awhile. How are you?"

No it can't be, it just can't...He was dead "I know your still there, I can hear you breathing. Don't worry, everything is fine. Captain Short is fine. Just...Unconcious but also unharmed. Take a moment to absorb this, I know it can be a challenge to take it all in. I'm dead so I've got all the time in the world."

"Artemis?" whispered the centaur

"Yes"

Foaly paused, Artemis was alive. It was...no that wasn't right...he had just said that he was dead...but that couldn't be right. It felt like two goblins were playing badminton with his brain. Artemis is dead, we buried him...no he's alive, you're talking to him...he's dead, he said so himself. Artemis pulled him from his thoughts.

"Foaly, is there some kind of trouble? If not then I really shouldn't be speaking to you. The living conversing with the dead is never a good for anyone's mental health. So what is it?"

Foaly took a deep breath. " The man who killed you is at Fowl Manor and we believe he is going to murder your father." There was a long pause on the other end of the line, more background noise. Someone moaning, more background noise. "Artemis?" and then the line went dead.

Trouble Kelp was still standing by the centaur, only listened to his side of the conversation " Who did you...reach?"

"Artemis Fowl" replied the centaur.

" But he's dead"

"Funny, he said that too."

Dublin Clan

Artemis turned off the communication device and turned back to his family and a very unconscious Holly who was occupying the sofa. Could this night get any worse, first Butler dies, then Holly appears, and now his mortal family was under attack 'given the circumstances, its possible' he thought.

Artemis had a fairly good idea of how Holly had found him ' first Butler see's you then he contacts Holly. Holly finds the location and finds you.' Unfortunately he had been covered in blood from morning Butlers death, which would come as a shock to an outsider who was not familiar with dealing with vampires. Well that wasn't entirely true, a vampire covered in blood is never a good thing.

Holly had busted through the top window and descended to the floor, from there she had leveled her gun at Artemis' head. The Clan was ready to attack but Artemis held up a hand and said " She was one of my friends as well. She wouldn't hurt me."

"Don't count on that" said Holly, " What's your game Fowl? Is this another one of your plans? Fake your death, hide is this pathetic building and do what...and, and,...Why are you covered in blood?"

"Holly, I realize that this might sound a tad fantastical but I'm..." Holly cut him off

"I don't want to hear it Fowl"

" a vam..."

"Shut UP!" and she shot at the floor by Artemis' feet "Just shut up, that has to be your worst lie yet..." she didn't have time to finish that sentence because Caroline had moved behind her and was relieving Holly of her gun. Caroline pushed Holly forward so she couldn't retaliate and Holly bumped against the table that had the Necronomicon on it. Holly's hand brushed up against the book and she screamed upon contact. A heart wrenching scream that could wake the dead and then she collapsed.

" What was that?" Exclaimed Rori.

" That," explained Marquis " is what happens when a pure soul touches the Necronomicon."

Artemis was next to Holly now, cradling her head in his lap keeping her head still while she convulsed "Will she be alright?" green sparks sizzled around her head. Some of them sizzled around Artemis and burned him. Apparently faerie magic did not like vampires. He backed away.

"She should be," Marquis answered " not that I have had this happen with the Necronomicon before but no damage has been done to her body or her mind. The book doesn't operate like that, more then likely the Necronomicon decided that it didn't like her and gave her a nasty surprise to get her away from it."

"Strange,"said Caroline "and she's a faerie? What kind?"

"An elf." Said Artemis

" How interesting. Should we kill her?"

"What?," Artemis was shocked "Why would we Kill her?"

"Because faeries are evil. They cause mischief and mayhem, they steal children in the night and the youth of young men and woman driving them to early graves. They cause others to go insane or they might become dependent on the faerie forcing the human to become a slave. Humans that had had some kind of dealing with the faerie folk are always the hardest to kill once they return. And they always return." Caroline was dark with her last sentence to make sure her fledgling understood the gravity of the situation. Then she turned to Marquis " Should we kill it then?"

"I don't see the point in killing her, if the Necronomicon thinks she has a pure soul then she can't be bad. Maybe this one isn't like the Faeries from our past."

" Well, she had a gun," said Rori " I very much doubt she is from your past, Marquis."

Then Holly's communicator went off.

"Captain Short. " said a voice that Artemis recognized " come in Captain Short."

The vampires stared at it for a second then Rori asked " Is any one going to get that?"

"Captain Short," said the person on the other line " are you there, come in Captain Short. There has been an incident."

"Artemis," said Caroline, "you better take that call. The last thing we are faeries getting in the way"

" Holly, are you there?"

Artemis picked up the communicator "Holly are you..."

" Hello Foaly," Artemis articulated into the receiver " It's been awhile. How are you?"


	10. Chapter 10

10 Kilometers Outside of Fowl Manor

Sam had dragged Mr. Fowl's body onto an ancient slab of stone. He was bleeding a lot now, and it trickled down the stone in tinny zig-zags as only blood will do. Sam had discarded Mr. Fowl's prosthetic leg somewhere back at the Manor, in Sam's mind the less limbs his victims had the better. His current victim would have considerably less in a few more moments but right now he was content to wait. He had a wickedly sharp and heavy blade in one hand which had not tasted human blood. But soon, yes very soon would be wet with the generous blood of Mr. Fowl.

His victim was swimming in and out of consciousness. He would groan and wail occasionally and then slide back into silence. It was imperative for Sam that Mr. Fowl be conscious, he needed it. He needed to see the pain and anguish in his victim he needed to see the light leave their eyes. How else would he know that the ritual worked. Well perhaps the large gaping vortex that would be brought forth to revile Ulbritghot, his revered god of darkness. Or maybe it would be Zialotina, the matriarch of destruction. He didn't really care as long as this world was destroyed in the process and along with it all the Humans, Faeries, Vampires, and other supernatural beings. And with the destruction would come a new order. One created by the Old ones, a world where nothing mattered and anyone with enough power could do as they pleased.

He had once thought that becoming a Vampire would give him that power. That his maker, Marquis had given him the keys to the universe so he could do as he wished, but it hadn't. It had only given him unwanted responsibility, protecting the humans from their undead. He snorted. It was silly. Dead humans killing dead humans. He had hated Marquis and his entire race, he was certain Marquis hated him. Why else would have he killed him a second time. It didn't matter though, Sam had conquered death and soon he would conquer the universe.

Mr. Fowl was waking up. The blade was ready. Artemis started with a groan, "Ugh, where...oh..it hurts. Oh."

Sam smiled and raised the blade "Now, don't worry Mr. Fowl. This should only take a minute." He brought the blade down hard over his victims left elbow. Blood and tissue splattered over Sam's face and wetted the blade. He smiled " The key word here being should." He brought it down again, Mr. Fowl screamed. "I can drag out the process for 'ours." The blade was halfway through Mr. Fowl's shoulder, Sam sliced through it slowly. Relishing the pain and fear that resonated in his victims eyes, then he sliced all the way through. He brought the blade up again and moved over to his victims legs. He let it fall over Mr. Fowls foot, it had enough force that the severed foot popped off and landed on the ground, painting the green Irish grass a deep crimson.

Artemis was reeling with pain "No more, no more." He muttered

"oh, why? I'm thur-o- lee enjoyin' myself, just be quiet like a good sport and let me finish my job." The blade fell mid thigh and stuck into the bone. The slab was nearly painted now. Just one more. One more cut and that would do it. Sam mounted Artemis and poised the blade high, just above his heart. He looked deep into his victim's eyes " you know, it's a good thing its you I'm killin. Jus think, it could 'ave been one of ya' sons." His victims eyes did something, there was something there, not fear or remorse. A steely resolve had set into them. Like he knew something Sam didn't know. "Artemis" whispered Sam's victim.

"Oh you wanna know about you're undead son is that it? Is that it Pops? You want to know 'ow he's still around haunting graveyards and the like? Is that it? You wanna know bout you damn Vampire son?"

"Artemis," whispered the father "Send this ass hole to Hell."

Sam thrust the blade into his victims chest, hitting the heart. Killing Mr. Fowl instantly. Sam waited around for an hour or two, no vortex. No dark god. Damn, it didn't work. Damn. Well maybe he would have better luck with the little ones then. If at first you dont succeed...

The Dublin Clan

"Try," said Caroline "try again."

Artemis was tiring to rouse Holly, she had been passed out from the Necronommicon encounter for about an hour. 'Come on Holly' He put his cold undead hands by her eyes hoping that the cold feel against her hot skin would wake her, 'Come on.' . They fluttered open.

"Artemis?" She said warily "where are we? What?" and the recognition hit her. She reached for her Neutrion 3000 but it wasn't was in the hands of a lovely redheaded girl, a vampire girl. Fear clinched her insides, her mind scouring for a way to escape. "Artemis" she put her voice into mesmer mode "please get away from me" it was her only hope.

"What is she doing?" asked Rori. "Dear God is she tiring to mesmer you? Look away Artemis."

"No, Artemis don't look away. You are going to get me out of here. Do you understand?' Her voice was dripping with the mesmer now. If she could get Artemis and get out of here it would be fine, everything would be fine.

"Of cores" Artemis responded in a dazed voice. "But Holly, there is something you need to understand." She was looking deep into his eyes. "I..." He started laughing "Oh, I can't do this." His laugh sounded like a hallow echo vibrating off the wall of a cave. "Mesmers don't work on us." Holly's face took on a hurt look and she punched him in the shoulder "Oww?"

Rori was laughing historically in the corner. "Stupid faeries." He laugh was like the sound of glass breaking "Don't know a thing about vampire, but we know everything about you"

" No one asked you Rori" snapped Caroline " can we kill it now Marquis, clearly it's evil. Look at what it just tried to do to Artemis."

"No, Caroline. Were not going to kill it."

"What?" said Holly

" Noone is killing anyone." Said Artemis

"Come on, it could be fun." Taunted Rori

"No," replied Artemis "Now Holly, I need you to understand a few things."

Holly stared at her dead friend for a long time "You're a vampire."

"Yes, but thats not what's important. My human family is under attack by the same man who sent me to an early grave. He may have already killed them but we don't know for sure. We're moving out to end him. Do you want to come?"

"Do you really need to ask?"

He smiled and helped he to her feet.

" Alright thats it then," said Marquis, " the Faerie is joining us. Good, welcome to the team Holly."

She smiled at Marquis "That's Captain Short."

"My apologies"

"Enough small talk" barked Caroline "We have necromancers to kill, loved ones to avenge, and vengeance to reap. Lets move."


	11. Chapter 11

Fowl Manor

Sam was stalking through the ruins of the Fowl Manor entrance. Debris fluttered through the room with every step he took like startled insects. He had a burlap sack with him and was looking for the boys, his last chance to bring about the new era which he craved. The security had been already dealt with when he had come for their father. They were laying helter skelter on the grounds, decomposing, bodies feeding lesser and in some respects greater beings. They would most likely rise as the undead which in turn would cause mass panic and mayhem or more likely would bring out the Dublin Clan and he would have a shot at destroying them before the dark gods could. It would bring him a sense of closure and he would be able to move on in the great new beginning.

He could sense them now, the mother and the children. Hunkered down somewhere, a frightened fox mother and her precious kits. She would defend them but that didn't concern him, the father was dead, her oldest was an undead, she would join them soon and then the twins. If all went well, maybe she would see her oldest join her in true death. It would be such a pity to separate such a devoted family.

Sam followed the fear, it flowed in a line. Up the stairs, into a room, through a door and down some more stairs. He sang a piece of a song, he only felt it appropriate

The fox went out on a starry night,

She prayed to the Moon to give her light,

for she had many a mile to go that night

Before she reached her den-o, den-o, den-o.

For she had many a mile to go that night

Before she reached her den-o

When he finally came to the end of the line, he was at a re-enforced steel door. He tapped on it lightly. There wasn't a peep or stir from inside but he knew they were there. He could smell them, smell their fear, he was a diligent hound sniffing out his quarry. "Open up Mrs. Fowl. Open , open,open, and I promise not to hurt you... to much" still no answer. " Fine then, you 'ad your chance. Not that it would 'ave mattered anyway." He placed his hands upon the the, uttered as few alien words and the lock and the bolt broke, the door opened softly and reviled the lady and his prize. But it wasn't as he expected, she was holding a gun and before he could get two words out she fired six rounds into his head.

This of course knocked him back a bit, she was a fierce little fighter. Blood poured from the wounds and his face began to reshape itself. " Alright," he said to the mother with a wide grin, "Lets see 'ow you like it." And he let go with three darts that sank into her flesh just below her lovely neck. The darts ,like all ways, were still connected to him but instead of bending her to his will he just ripped them out of her flesh.

A crimson fountain flowed from her and painted her breasts and arms, she collapsed to the floor. Clasping at her chest she backed up against her children. A valiant woman's last attempt to protect her young. The twins huddled together behind their mothers dieing form. She gave one final breath and was no more. The necromancer kicked aside her body and made for his prize.

"No!" screamed one of the boys, the fair haired one, " get away, no!" the other one didn't say anything just held close to his brother. Sam hit the noisy one in the head, effectively silencing him. The other one started to cry and whimper. He hit that one too and stowed them safely in his burlap sack. He turned around and walked back they way he had come. All the while singing

The hound grabbed the the kits by the neck,

and he slung them across his back.

He didn't mind the cackle clack clack

and the legs all dangling down-o, down-o, down-o.

He didn't mind the cackle clack clack

and the legs all dangling down-o.

It was such a pleasant song

Somewhere near Fowl Manor

Holly had been quiet for the better part of the trip to Fowl Manor. She had come to terms quicker than she would have liked with her friends recent change to vampirism. The Clan seemed nice enough, if you didn't count Caroline, Artemis' maker giving her the evil eye every time she turned around. They were approaching the manor with significant speed, they had hijacked a car. Well more pointedly Artemis had hijacked the car and was currently driving it to his previous home with Marquis riding shotgun giving out parental advice and cringing at every sharp turn 'what have they been teaching you Artemis?' thought the faerie. And then taking into account what they had loaded up the car with 'maybe I don't want to know.'

They pulled through Artemis' family gates, and were instantly greeted by fear and terror. The grounds were littered with the bodies of LEP officers. Some dead, some very close to dead. Holly felt her blood freeze and an emptiness opened up inside of her. A pit with no end that threatened to consume them all. Artemis pulled up to a demolished pair of front doors and jumped out of the car with Marquis, Caroline and Rori not far behind. Holly was hesitant but got out with the same urgency

"Dear Lords," exclaimed Rori "Are you seeing this."

"Yes," answered Marquis solemnly and approached the door. A figure pooped out of the shubbery that lined the house. It was Trouble Kelp, his stomach rendered open and guts spilling out. Holly rushed to his side only to realize that whatever had been Trouble was him no longer, but instead a twisted evil pulled back, desperate to get away. There were two shots fired into his body and Trouble lay still, never to rise again. Holly turned around, Caroline was standing next to her brandishing her shotgun.

" As much as I despise your race, for crimes that you refuse to acknowledge, no one deserves to become a zombie." She turned and entered the Manor with the rest of her Clan. Holly trailed in behind while tiring to get a hold of Foaly. However she didn't have time because at that moment a very bloody and very undead Angeline Fowl appeared from another room. She gazed at their party for a fleeting moment ,then attacked!

Angeline came at Holly, most likely attracted by her pulse. Her fingers were extended claws and teeth bared. Holly screamed at the anticipated attack, then she heard a sharp metallic ting followed by a thump . Artemis had beaten down his own mother with his shovel and was in the process of decapitating her. He didn't even blink as the blade found its home in her neck separating her head from her body.

Artemis picked up the head and put it under one picked up her body and went into another room. Holly and the Clan followed and watched as he placed the body and head of his once beloved mother next to an enormous fire place. The next few moments seemed surreal to Holly, She witnessed as her friend and his clan dispersed and went into different places of the house. Then each returning with different objects.

Rori was the first to reappear, she had a blanket that could have only belonged to Artemis' parents and pillows and stuffed animals that clearly belonged to the twins. She took out the log grate and began to create what could only in Holly's mind be described as a bed or maybe a nest. She arranged the stuffed animals close to the bed and backed away.

Caroline came back next, In her hands she had pictures of the Fowl family , rosebranches, string, tape and aged wine she put them on top of Anegline's body. She started tapping the pictures to the string and wove them into the rosebranches. When she was finished she placed her creation next to Mrs. Fowl.

Marquis and Artemis came back together. Marquis had a box of matches and a stack of paper, Artemis was caring a silky piece of green cloth. Rori took the cloth from her preternatural brother and Caroline gathered Angeline's body and left. Artemis sat down next to Holly while Marquis arranged paper.

"Artemis?" asked Holly in a somber voice. He didn't respond. She tried again "Artemis?"

"Not now Holly, but...thank You" they sat there in the silence. Somewhere out there a man was preparing for a sadistic sacrifice. Somewhere Artemis' brothers were being prepared for slaughter. Rori and Caroline came back with Mrs. Fowls body. It was now fitted in the green silk gown, they handed it to her son.

Artemis placed his mothers body in the prepared space amongst the blanket and stuffed animals. He placed Carolines woven picture wreath by her side and arranged her severed head above her torso. Marquis handed Artemis the box of matches and the wine. He looked at the bottle and the box for a long time until finally deciding. He threw the bottle against the back side the the fireplace and threw in a lit match. It started to burn. He struck another, and another repeating the action until his mothers body was completely engulfed in flames.

He wasn't going to stop. Holly walked up to him hesitantly and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's done"

"No it's not." Replied he friend in an icy tone, "not by a long shot." He turned from her blood tears staining his face. Caroline embraced him. 'My friend is truly dead' thought Holly 'whoever he was before, he isn't the same now.' She watched as the vampires walked away from her, away from the manor, away from the fire and out into the night. Holly watched Angeline for a little longer , flames dancing around the corpse to the tune of screams and groans that came from outside. The Dublin Clan was busy.


	12. Chapter 12

Fowl Manor Grounds

Artemis fought through the macabre mayley of reanimating faerie corpses, knocking them to the ground with his shovel, decapitating them with his blade, tearing off heads and ripping out spinal columns with his hands. His face was splattered with gore, it resembled that of Celtic war paint. A faerie lunged at him, his helmet camera was still intact. He ripped off the poor faerie's head and looked directly into the camera. "where are you?" he mouthed. Then he detached the helmet from its officer and found the ear piece. He searched all the frequencies but only received static. 'Damn!'. He tossed the useless equipment aside. 'Well, if anything Holly can contact Foaly, that that he's of much help now. Poor Foaly, forced to watch all his friends die and then reanimate.'

He heard Caroline and Marquis emptying their guns into countless officers, apparently Mother had been busy. He sliced off another faerie head and thought about the evil creature who was responsible for these atrocious acts. 'They will die' he thought 'they will die quickly and painlessly and we will burn the bastards body.' That's how it had to be. There was no room for revenge, not after this...creature Had killed him, his mother, probably his father...brothers...? Artemis froze and almost let a zombie get to close but Rori had been watching and she sunk her scythe deep into its throat.

"Artemis?" he was absolutely frozen Rori prodded him from his reprieve " snap out of it. Artemis! Zombies! What part of that do you not get?"

Artemis finally came back to life "My brothers, dear God. Where are Myles and Beckett?" He ran back into the house.

"Shite!" Exclaimed Rori, and she ran after him. Holly was there at the front of the Manor looking very unHollyish. She look lost and empty, well of course she looked lost and empty. She was watching him slaughter her people. Millions of dead faeries littering the Fowl grounds.

Artemis physically shook her " Myles, Beckett...Holly I didn't see them in the house...Holly. Can you tell if they're here. Is there anything alive here at all?" Holly's eyes widened at the realization

"No...there's Nothing...everything Here is dead. You're dead, you're mother...You're Brothers arn't here Artemis." She was quiet then. Something exploded within the house and his mother's pier went unchecked. 'Good let it burn, let it all burn.' He thought.

"Holly can you get a hold of Foaly?" at that moment there was a great blast and a red light shoot up into the sky. The clouds swirled and the wind picked up. Artemis didn't need Foaly to know that where ever that light was coming from that is where he would find his brothers. Whether or not they were alive he couldn't say.

Portal

Sam had done it, the twins had been enough. The blood of the human Fowl lineage had been spilt and the Gods were pleased. The corpses of the boys had been discarded with the limbs of their father, their male blood saturated the ground so that no matter where someone stepped they would find themselves saturated with the life giving sustenance. Red soaking into the very fabric of your skin, marring your humanity, if you still had humanity. Sam didn't. Wicked light surrounded him, and from the depths of his soul he heard something. An ever present chant. 'They're coming' he thought ' both of them. My gods and the Clan. They're coming!' He laughed, a long drawn out laugh. Soon Oh so very soon this would all be over. No more humans, no more vampires, no faeries, and nothing else. Soon all there would be was the void, and the void was everything.

'They're coming,' he said in his head 'they are really coming' and as he thought it he saw a group of people rise over the hill. He let loose with more laughter. 'Well let them. Let them come, and let it all end here.'


	13. Chapter 13

The Light

Artemis , Holly and his family crested the hill with the light coming from it. Holly wasn't exactly acting like herself. 'Shock' thought Artemis 'that's what shock looks like, scared, deranged, mind crippling shock. Of course she isn't going to act like herself. If anything her mind has gone on auto pilot and she is navigating from within.' There was a man at the top, laughing hysterical almost dancing in the light. Artemis felt the ground squish beneath his feet, he look down and realized that the ground was completely saturated with blood. To his revulsion, it made him hungry. Body parts littered the ground, arms, legs, hands, were everywhere, then he saw a pile.

He almost didn't recognize them, his father and brothers, bodies desecrated and wrecked. His father had been torn to pieces, his brothers... He didn't want to think about what this mad man had done, how he had tortured them, what kind of monster could make children look like that.

" 'ell, I see you've made it to the party." Said the crazed man who was clearly responsible for all of this "good, you will be the first to witness greatness, and you 'ill be the first to die."

"Sam?" Cried Rori. Apparently his family knew him " Sam, what have you done?"

"What I could, what he," And he pointed at Marquis " Should have done ages ago." He laughed harder at that. " there's no stopping it now. The end has finally come!"

" like Hell it has" and Marquis rushed Sam but before he could reach him the necromancer threw something at Marquis. It struck his shoulder. Caroline was the next to charge the assault. Weapons drawn, she fired two shots into his chest, right into his heart. Sam doubled over and fell to the ground. "is dat all you've got? Pathetic."

Marquis ripped something out of his chest and pulled hard. Sam's arm gave a jerk and there was the unmistakable sound of a cloth being torn. Marquis had ripped open his arm, exposing putrid black and green veins and arteries. He looked up at Marquis and leered. " It doesn't matter what you do now." He yelled, "It's started and noone can stop it. Welcome to the apocalypse!"

At this point Sam unloaded his arsenal Striking everyone, including Holly. He then proceeded to rip out the darts. Artemis turned to Holly, she was bleeding out of her femoral artery. " Holly!" yelled Artemis "get the Hell out of here!"

She gritted her teeth, pulled out her Neutrion 3000 and fired into Sam's legs, successfully separating him from one. " No freaking way."

But Sam wasn't done yet, with a flick of his wrist he wrapped a cord around Holly's foot and began dragging her toward the light. She fell to the ground, she tried to crawl backward but Sam kept dragging her closer and closer to the portal. Artemis flung himself after her and tried to grab a hold of her out stretched hand but missed her by inches. Holly was sliding through the blood to her own demise, but Rori stepped in front of her and sliced the cord, severing the connection.

As Holly was retreating Rori was pulled in the opposite direction. Sam had regained a few darts and had thrust them all into Rori's back. Sam flung her into the pit.

"No!" Cried Marquis and he and Caroline were upon the necromancer. Marquis managed to cut off Sam's damaged arm but Sam kicked him back and put him dangerously close to the pit. Artemis went after them to help destroy the evil man who had killed his mortal family and was in the process of destroying his current family.

Caroline had Sam by the throat but Sam had found a discarded bone and jabbed it into her side, he escaped her and shoved her into the pit. Artemis could feel her then, and he knew her terror. He also knew that she was no more. She was gone, dead, 'No,no, no...my Maker.'

Sam was reaching for Marquis whose back was to the pit. Sam's back was to Artemis. 'No, no, no... This is all wrong. It's been wrong from the start ever since that first night with the window. Wrong wrong wrong..."

"Artemis!" Yell Marquis. "throw us in, do it now. You won't have another chance. Do it! Now"

Artemis didn't have a choice, his preternatural father had given him a command, a command that would have been followed had he been Caroline. Did it matter though? No, this needed to end, he would end it.

Artemis ran full force at the pair. This was for Butler, for his parents, for his brothers, for Rori, Caroline, Marquis. This was for all the lives that this monster had destroyed, including his own. Artemis pushed them into the pit. And then they were gone, but the pit didn't close.

Holly ran up behind her friend " Artemis, we have to get..." but she had no time to finish her sentence because right then the earth gave a ghastly upheaval and trembled. Holly pitched forward but didn't fall. Six large tentacles rose from the pit and wrapped around her and Artemis.

They tried to hang on to the earth beneath their feet but it was an experiment in futility. Barbs came out of the tentacles and sunk deep into both. They only pierced Artemis' leg and torso, but the bit deep into Holly's neck. She gave a little gasp and Artemis watched as the one person who had saved him and brought him from the brink of a dark oblivion fade and die. 'So this is it.' He thought ' goodbye Holly. See you on the other side' They were sucked into the the portal and were no more.

Somewhere in Dublin

Linda woke with a start and was sweating bullets. She had just woken from a nightmare of the worst kind. She quickly turned on her side table light and ran her fingers through her thick black hair. 'Dear Lord, what was that?' She rocked back and forth a little, trying to shake off the creeps. She then examined the books on the floor next to her bed. There were several Artemis Fowl books there and one book called The Black Seas of Infinity by H. P. Lovecraft.

"That explains so much" she said to no one in particular. She leaned back and settled back down beneath her blankets. Assuring herself that it was only a way freaked out dream. She was almost asleep when she noticed something very peculiar. The room was a lot chillier than usual. She glanced around the room. Her window was open and although she had no proof she couldn't shake the feeling. ' Something is out there.' She though and in the darkness she could have sworn a pair of bright mismatched eyes were watching her.

The End...


End file.
